Sayfildin Tahir Sharif pleads not guilty to terrorism charges in U.S. court

Sayfildin Tahir Sharif (third from the left) pleaded not guilty to terrorism and murder charges in U.S. federal court Saturday. He was extradited from Alberta to New York a day earlier. (Christine Cornell)

A Edmonton man pleaded not guilty Saturday to U.S. charges that he sent money and provided other long-distance support to Tunisian jihadists believed responsible for a 2009 suicide attack in Iraq that killed five American soldiers.

Sayfildin Tahir Sharif, also known as FaruqKhalil Muhammad 'Isa, entered the plea in federal court in Brooklyn, where a magistrate judge jailed him without bail on charges of conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists without ever leaving Canada.

Sharif, a 36-year-old Canadian citizen and Iraqi national, was arrested in 2011 on a U.S. warrant after an investigation by authorities in New York, Canada and Tunisia. He was held in Edmonton until he lost an extradition fight claiming the U.S. had no jurisdiction in the case and was brought to New York City on Friday.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said the case "demonstrates to those who orchestrate violence against our citizens and our soldiers that there is no corner of the globe from which they can hide from the long reach of the law."

One of Sharif​'s American defence attorneys, Chase Scolnick, declined comment.

Code words used in phone calls

An extradition request cited wiretap evidence and an interview of Sharif​ that U.S. authorities claim link him to the terror network.

Authorities say the group used a suicide bomber to detonate an explosives-laden truck outside the gate of the U.S. base in Mosul, Iraq, on April 10, 2009, killing the soldiers, and staged a separate suicide bombing on an Iraqi police station on March 31, 2009, that killed seven people.

During the interview, Sharif​ admitted he corresponded by email with two of the terrorists while they were in Syria, and that they were on a mission to kill Americans, the paperwork said. The documents allege he corresponded with "facilitators" who were trying to get the attackers into Iraq, and wired one of them $700.

On wiretaps, Sharif​ was overheard last year discussing with someone in Iraq how he used code words when discussing the Iraq operation, the papers said.

"For example, when I want to name the brothers, I say the farmers -- because they plant metal and harvest metal and flesh," the papers quoted him as saying. He also explained that he used the term "married" to mean "in the afterlife."

U.S. authorities alleged that the day after the attack on the U.S. base, Sharif asked in an electronic communication: "Did you hear about the huge incident yesterday? Is it known?"

He also identified the bomber as "one of the Tunisian brothers," to which a facilitator responded, "Praise God."

Sharif​ told investigators in the interview that by "huge incident" he meant an explosion, the papers said.

No date was set for another court appearance. A judge has granted Sharif permission to contact his brother to help support a future bail application.